GORDON EATON resigned as director of the U.S. Geological
Survey (USGS) at the end of September. Eaton, who served in that
position since 1994, led the agency through a period in which it
staved off threats of abolishment, underwent significant
downsizing and restructuring, and took on new responsibilities in
the areas of biological research and mineral information.
In announcing his decision to retire, Eaton noted that his
goal had been to "ensure that the USGS provides relevant science
to the American people" and that his "job of transforming the
USGS into a streamlined, cohesive agency ... has been
accomplished." Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt praised
Eaton for guiding the survey through "a dramatic sea-change"
during which it became "the preeminent science bureau for the
department."

JOHN C. PHILLEY completed a 37-year career at Morehead
State University in June. He will teach part-time as emeritus
professor of geology. Philley had served as dean of the faculty
and vice president for academic affairs since 1990.

WILLIAM E. HARRISON, previously of Lockheed-Martin Idaho
Technology Company, is now deputy director of the Kansas
Geological Survey at the University of Kansas.

PETER HOWD has joined the faculty of the marine science
department at the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, as
an assistant professor.

DONALD A. O'NESKY has been named executive director of the
American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) Foundation.
O'Nesky joined AAPG as business director in 1978 and was named
deputy executive director in 1986. He will remain with the
association as special projects administrator.

University of Melbourne Professor of Geology IAN RUTHERFORD
PLIMER has been made an Honorary Fellow of the Geological
Society (London); the society saluted his courage for taking a
stand against "creation science."

Obituaries

WALLACE HAGAN
Wallace Hagan served as director and state geologist for Kentucky
from 1958 to 1978. During his tenure, he initiated and completed
a statewide areal geologic mapping project in cooperation with
the U.S. Geological Survey. Due to Hagan's perseverance, this
monumental program resulted in the publication of more than 700
detailed geologic maps, the first such state maps in the country.
Hagan was also well known for his activities as a petroleum
geologist. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois
and was a lifetime member of the American Association of
Stratigraphic Palynologists. July 18, 1997.

EUGENE SHOEMAKER
Dr. Eugene Shoemaker, the U.S. Geological Survey geologist-
astronomer who created the discipline of planetary geology and
helped discover the giant comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, died July 18 in
an automobile accident in Alice Springs, Australia. He and his
wife Carolyn were conducting fieldwork on impact structures in
that country as they had in previous years.
Known to many in the profession as "SuperGene," Shoemaker was
passionate about his work, whether studying geology and
astrogeology, searching for evidence of meteorite and comet
impacts, exploring new craters, or discovering new comets. Early
in his career, he dreamed of being the first geologist on the
moon. Prevented from meeting this goal by a health problem, he
nevertheless remained intricately involved with the space
program, helping to train Apollo astronauts, studying the
composition of moon rocks,working on the Lunar Ranger and
Surveyor programs, and finally acting as science-team leader for
Project Clementine.
Shoemaker is known for his discovery of coesite, a high-
pressure form of silica, and the use of it in studying impact
cratering. He was a member of the team (which included his wife
Carolyn and David Levy) that discovered the Shoemaker-Levy comet
and predicted the awesome spectacle that occurred when it
collided with Jupiter in 1994.
Shoemaker worked at U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for more
than 40 years, joining that agency in 1948 after receiving his
bachelor's degree from the California Institute of Technology
(Caltech). He earned his doctorate from Princeton in 1960; from
1962 to 1985, he taught at Caltech while continuing his research
for the survey.
In 1965, Shoemaker founded the USGS Astrogeology Center in
Flagstaff, Ariz., and served as its chief scientist. Since his
1993 retirement, he had been a staff member at Lowell Observatory
in Flagstaff.
Much of Shoemaker's research on asteroid and comet studies was
conducted with his wife Carolyn, a planetary astronomer. Together
they discovered numerous comets and initiated the Palomar
Asteroid and Comet Survey.
President Bush awarded Shoemaker the U.S. National Medal of
Science in 1992. His many honors include medals from the
American Geophysical Union, the Geological Society of America,
NASA, and the U.S. Department of the Interior.
In a series of tributes published by Lowell Observatory on the
World Wide Web, Shoemaker was called "one of the giants of earth
and planetary science" and a "great scientist" who "left glowing
lights behind him." Carolyn Shoemaker, recovering from the
accident in Alice Springs, wrote in a letter to the public that
her husband would have said, "Don't grieve for me. Get on with
life and work at the things that make you happy." Shoemaker
pursued that ideal throughout his own life.